And that was THE tournament that would have changed everything.

Anyone else have the feeling that Mike is still on this thread under about six other guises, defending himself?

While this thread is everything to the trolls here…I'm guessing Mike is busy trying to get his life together and worried about his next meal…

Stay Strong Mike…..

Mike hasn't exhibited an ounce of strength in 2 decades.

omg... i can't believe it... the movie deal is actually for real

That smile....that pic....it's gold.

He's still a POS.

Best of luck buddy. It is never too late to turn your life around. I don't know about your country, but in my country mentally ill people can get a "good man" that sorts out their economy. Basically your paychecks will go to this person and he will see to it you get food, room and pay your bills and do your taxes.

Then, maybe you can find some sort of job where you have to move your body a lot so you don't get restless. You know, maybe you can work with logging trees, construction etc. Basically anything that keeps you occupied and pretty isolated and gives you time to think about life. Maybe try to get on these boats to fish for crabs in the north (which is really well paid). http://www.alaskajobfinder.com/

Anyways, you are punishing yourself enough by living like you do and you will feel sick about how you treated your life for the rest of it, so I also suggest you pick up buddhism or something that can help you overcome all the guilt and shame you have inside.

Again, best of luck.

It's not just a feeling, it's a fact. Every time we get a new poster who's been "lurking" for awhile, then decides to join so that he can make his first post stating that what Mike did isn't so bad, and how his story would make a great book/movie, it's Mike.

Mike is my role model. Ever since I started reading this thread I've been crushing the Paigow tiles and scamming idiots at airports. Life is wonderful, thanks Mike! I can't wait until my first chance to defraud an innkeeper.. I imagine that'll be pretty fun too.

As soon as you start to get two outed to get knocked out of every tournament, spend a little time in jail, and get outed by the poker community for your scams, you'll be living the dream just like Mike!

No sorry I couldn't do what Mike does. I don't have it in me to go up and ask random people for money.

But we were talking about criminal cases and not civil. You would also have to get all those witnesses together which I think may be a bit difficult with just a civil case.

I'm not sure how much simpler I can make it for some of you idiots in this thread but if what he was doing was a serious as a crime as some of you think he would have been arrested for it already. He has been doing this for what 14 years and never been arrested for it. Why? Because it's not that serious or worth the time to investigate and prosecute. I understand that some of you in this thread are letting all your personal issues cloud your judgement but why don't you try looking at it from a logical point of view?

A bunch of cars in my neighborhood got stuff taken out of them last night. The people didn't break into anything they just went around looking for unlocked cars and found plenty. Do I think what these people did was wrong? Absolutely. Do I think we should waste police resources investigating these crimes that could have been prevented? No. If you would have left your car locked it would have never happened. Sometimes I think people need to take responsibility for being idiots.

What does this have to do with Mike? If people would grow a set of balls and tell him no he wouldn't be able to keep his little game up. All these things can be prevented but instead people want to be idiots.

This thread has been fun but it's now basically turned into us repeating the same stuff. Some of us are on one side and some are on the other. We will never come to an agreement and thats fine but we are just going around in circles now which is kinda boring.

Remember kids....it's only the internet.

Super awesome that you can realize all of this and continue to post.

That is great advice that reflects well upon how your country deals with the mentally ill.

Unfortunately, this guy seems about as far as one can be from Buddhism, Alaska, and making good money on a fishing boat lol.

Still, we've all seen others rise up from the abyss; maybe Mike's redemption will be the ultimate long-shot parlay. But like most long-shot parlays, most of the tickets just get thrown in the trash with the rest of the losers.

(kind of) UPDATE: My friend and I have heard nothing from him in the last week

you wanna be like mike!


for just one day if i could be that way...

You're making the assumption that people are giving him money out of generosity or simply because they want to do "the right thing". I don't think it's that simple.

The fact is the vast majority of people don't give him anything, they're either too smart, cynical, ungenerous etc. Of those that do hand over money I bet the motivations are different and varied. It's a pretty weird situation having a complete stranger ask you for money and people react to it differently. For example, I'm certain my mother would give him the $200 just to get rid of him, she'd find the experience that unpleasant.

Well, almost whatever it takes. He won't go out and get a job. And he won't use a fake name when running his scam.

Off the top of my head, I'd say that the link between drug addiction and petty crime is much, much stronger than the link between gambling addiction and petty crime. Personally, I've known several degenerate gamblers who have, at least on the surface, led functional or relatively normal lives. On the other hand, the serious drug addicts I've known (or known of) have led chaotic, troubled lives.

I'm not saying that Mike's gambling addiction and scamming are two completely isolated issues. I just think he's more a petty criminal with a gambling addiction than a gambling addict who turns to petty crime to feed his addiction.

The way he runs his scam and the way he's explained elements of his life in this thread show a level of calculation I don't think is typical for petty crime associated with addiction of any kind. For example, the crimes of drug addicts tend to escalate, that is, they might start out by breaking into cars or mugging people and finish up with house burglaries or armed robberies. Mike has used his experience with the law to find what appears to be a loop hole, a relatively safe way to break the law where the consequences, should he ever have to face them, are tolerable. For me that's enough to suggest he's choosing to live the way he's living i.e. as a petty criminal.

To be honest, I think there's a small chance the story in this thread isn't real. Mike's posts seemed more and more like a level to me.

Some people can handle snakes safely and eat fire without a problem. It doesn't make those activities safe or harmless.

The reason moderation is preached for gambling and drinking is because they're bad for everyone. Moderation means you're giving yourself a chance at avoiding destruction.

This isn't true at all. The most frequent crime most British drug addicts engage in is shoplifting, and they rarely escalate.

There's a very small number of high frequency drug dependent offenders who commit a disproportionate number of more serious acquisitive crimes like burglary of domestic premises or muggings, but they tend to be well known to police and have relatively short periods of freedom before they go back to jail again.

I was one to express a curiosity as to how a slovenly dork convinces multiple strangers to hand him over $300 for 14 years. As curious as I was, I'd never spend even one cent on it. I'd rather enjoy if he encounters a sociopath who brands scammer across his forehead eventually. That would be for the betterment of society. I'm not advocating it, but I would shed no tears. He won't sell anything. We are the only people in the world somewhat curious, and I really don't think he'd get $100 out of the deal from amongst us.

You're probably right. I was talking without researching the matter so I'm not surprised if I got it wrong a little.

That's not how you do it on NVG. You're supposed to insist that you were right and that I'm obviously an idiot.

I'm having a hard time thinking of anything you can do in excess that isn't bad for you. Balance in life is key.

Sure, but there's a good reason why when it comes to things like gambling and drinking the need for moderation is emphasised.

Poker has not been bad for me.

Are you gambling or are you one of those nut players?